You designate an amount to be deducted in equal installments from your paycheck. You cannot change your contribution amount or suspend your payroll deductions during the year unless you have a qualified change in family status, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.

All regular, full-time employees and faculty members are eligible to participate in the Dependent Care Account.

Eligible expenses are only those expenses that you incur because you work, and are expenses for services received during the calendar year in which you are participating. If you are a two-parent family, both parents must be working in order to qualify for the Plan.

Eligible dependents are defined as:

children under the age of 13;

older, disabled dependents whom you can claim in your income tax return

The maximum annual contribution qualifying for pre-tax reimbursement is $5,000 per family.

This type of plan is considered by the IRS to be a "use it or lose it" plan. This means that if you do not use the full amount that you elected, then you will forfeit the remaining balance. The Temple University plan allows you to submit claims up to March 15th of the following calendar year.

For example, if you elect to contribute $1,000 in calendar year 2015, then you have until December 31, 2015 to incur $1000 worth of dependent care expenses. Further, you have until March 15, 2016 to submit claims for 2015.

Current Employees: Open enrollment is during the months of November and December for the following calendar year. You must re-enroll each year to continue or change your participation in an FSA account.

New Hires: You have 31 days from the date of your Benefits Orientation to enroll on-line for the current calendar year.

If you have a question regarding your payroll deduction, please contact the Benefits Department at 215-926-2281. Inquiries about how the program works should be directed to WageWorks.